


Heaven is a flat in Central Tokyo

by Looali



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Angst, Everyone except Hinata/Kageyama is a background relationship, Fluff, Ghost!Kageyama, M/M, Suicide mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-19 02:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4728710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Looali/pseuds/Looali
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinata's Tokyo apartment was the dream, hardwood flooring, open brick walls, bright, airy spaces. It was everything a University student could dream of, and a whole lot more. The one tiny, insignificant, minute problem (that really, if anything wasn't a problem and Hinata could totally handle it. Totally.) was that the ghost it's previous owner refused to stop haunting the place. That jerk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. always trust the word of Yachi Hitoka

“So what you’re telling me-”

“Yachi.”

“No, no. Let me finish. What you’re telling me, is that you viewed a flat, found out that not only did someone _die_ there, but that everyone who’s lived there since has left before their term was up because of ‘undisclosed circumstances’ and you still signed the contract. Is that what you’re telling me, Shouyou? Is it?”

Hinata rolled his eyes at the phone receiver, ignoring the indignant squawk of ‘I could hear that, Shouyou!’  
“Yes, Yachi. That’s basically it. Now will you come and help me unpack?”

“Um…”

“Yachi.”

“Shouyou, I don’t want to die.”

“Yachi.”

“Oh, fine. I’ll be there in two hours.”

Thanking her and hanging up, Hinata dropped his mobile down to the floor and looked around at what he’d affectionately dubbed his ‘box kingdom’.  
Despite the current state it was in, with boxes seeming to burst out of every alcove and various take outs littering the floor, the whole place was much more opulent than anything Hinata could have hoped to afford under normal circumstances. The flat had open brick walls, hard wood flooring, and a view that most would have died for. Well, he supposed that death was part of the reason that most didn’t have it. The place had been cheap, somehow managing to fit his meagre budget. It was only when he was about to sign the contract that Hinata had found out why. Five years ago the person who lived in this flat had been found dead and since then anyone who’d moved in here had left with next to no explanation. After about the sixth sudden move the place became almost impossible to sell, apparently one of the former renters, a journalist, had written a column on it entitled 'Hell Is Empty And All The Devils Are Here'. It all went downhill from there. The price dropped and dropped, until here Hinata was.

Looking around the flat once more, Hinata reached down to his phone to text Yachi and ask her what pizza she wanted, only to find it gone. A glance to the kitchen counter found his phone, and he shrugged. He’d never had the best memory.   
  


* * *

   
By the time Yachi and he had finished unpacking half of the boxes the sun had set and the only shows on TV were either teleshopping or late-night-scream-fests. With the half empty boxes acting as a makeshift sofa, they curled up in front of the shopping channels (scary films never sitting well with Yachi’s temperament) and ordered pizza.

“I just don’t think it’s entirely safe is all?”

“You’re just being paranoid Hi-chan. It’s a spooky story that happened to creep some people out!”

“But…”  
  
Brushing some of her hair away from her face, Hinata gave his best friend a hug, attempting to calm some of her nerves.  
“There’s no stock in it, don’t worry. Ghosts don’t exist, Hi-chan.”

She hmm’d in response, leaning into Hinata’s shoulder and sighing.

“Maybe…” Yachi spoke softly, turning towards Hinata, “we should open some drinks. You know, to celebrate.”

Hinata grinned and pushed himself up from the box couch, his half-asleep legs giving him a prominent limp. Making his way towards the kitchen, he didn’t notice the extension cable on the floor and tripped, grabbing onto the counter and knocking off a glass placed on the edge. He reached out to grab it and missed, skimming air as it skipped his fingers. He braced himself for the smash, and it never came.  
The glass stopped, midway through the fall, and placed itself gently on the floor.  
Hinata stared at the glass, then looked around him, and then stared at the glass once more. It was late. He needed a drink.  
  


* * *

 

“Shou-chan! You’ve drunk too much!”

“I’m celebrating!”

Yachi burst out into a fit of giggles, shoving Hinata’s shoulder and tipping over herself.

“You should talk!” Hinata snorted. “You’ve drunk enough sake to knock out a battalion of troops.”  
She just continued giggling, lay flat out on the floor, and passed the bottle up to Hinata. He took a swig and grinned down at her.  
  
“To a new life!” he shouted.  
  
“S’new life!”

Taking a swig from the bottle and putting it on the box next to him, Hinata glanced about the flat, feeling pretty proud of himself. They’d not made that much progress but the place was finally starting to feel more comfortable, tea towels hanging up and photographs covering the surfaces.  
He reached behind him to grab the bottle, only to swipe at thin air. His head shot around, and the bottle was nowhere in sight. Jumping to his feet, Hinata scanned the apartment, ignoring the grumble Yachi made in protest as he forced her to move. His eyes finally landed on the bottle, sitting nicely across the room on his small desk.

“Yachi?” Hinata whispered, “Did you move the bottle?”  
There was a grumble.  
Hinata already knew the answer. He suddenly felt very, very queasy. He’d probably drunk too much.

“C’mon Yachi, let’s go to bed.” He said after a long while.  
  
Pulling Yachi up to her feet, Hinata walked her into the bedroom and lay her down under the covers, knowing she’d be perfectly comfortable in the t-shirt and leggings she arrived in. Hinata quickly got into his pyjamas, making sure to scope out the entire room as he did before diving into bed alongside Yachi.  
They’d known each other long enough to be comfortable sharing a bed, and often did when scared or lonely. Not that Hinata was scared; his gaze flickered across the room once more. It was just a new place was all?  
  
It didn’t matter anyway, was his final thought of the night, Yachi was here too. Nothing would dare go after the both of them.  
  


* * *

   
The morning came with a rushed exit from Yachi and promises that he’d see her tomorrow – they both had the same sport science lecture. He stretched out across the bed, the delivery men should be coming later on with his sofa and various IKEA items he couldn’t even pronounce the name of that he’d bought on a whim. Thinking about it now, he probably could have gone without the waffle iron and heated towel maiden, but he was damn sure that the whale shaped bathmat was a solid investment if ever he saw one.

Rolling over and staring at the cheap dresser the landlord had left for him, Hinata found himself wondering about his family. Since starting University he’d only been home twice, once during Christmas, and once for Natsu’s birthday. She’d been so excited when he got accepted into University in Tokyo, but when she found out how long he’d be gone for Natsu had cried for days. He still felt pangs of guilt when he thought about it.  
He was so lost in his thoughts that he barely even registered his phone ringing. He scrambled for it and answered quickly, not thinking to look who was calling, only two people ever rang him anyway. Yachi probably forgot some notes.

“Shouyou!”

“Hi, Mum.” He was wrong. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Well if you think about me so much, why don’t you try ringing once in a while?”

“Ah, sorry Mum.”

“It’s fine. How’s the new flat?”

He started picking at loose threads on his blanket, “It’s alright. I'm almost finished unpacking.”

“It’s not too cramped there, is it?”

Looking around at the wide open space, Hinata shrugged. “Nope, it’s fine.” His bedroom alone was almost twice the size of Natsu’s old one.

His mum hummed in response, and he went back to picking at his blanket.

“You know, Shouyou,” her voice was slowing, taking on a careful tone, “You don’t need to stay there if you don’t want.”

His hand stilled.

“We’d all understand if you came home.”

“Mum.”

“Some people just aren't cut out for University.” She whispered the last word, “They don’t do well in big cities.”

“Mum.”

“Shouyou.”

“I’m fine.”

A hum.

“I have to go now Mum, the delivery men are here.” he lied.

“Ah, oka-”

He hung up before she could give her answer and stared down at his phone. His head tilted to the side and he went back to picking at the blanket. His stomach grumbled but he couldn’t bring himself to get anything to eat.

The delivery men came and went, and he slowly set his furniture up, feeling less and less working that night’s shift. He needed the money, he reminded himself.

Shoving his uniform into his bag, Hinata made his way out of the flat.  
He worked in a small sports shop down in the café district. His boss had told him they were placed there to guilt people into buying exercise gear after eating too much sweet food. Hinata didn’t think it worked particularly well, what with their only real customers being an overly-excitable guy who seemed to have a never ending plethora of owl tops, an awkward, burly-looking guy who spent most of his time talking to Suga-senpai, and a freckled kid who came in purely to see Tsukishima (God knows why).

It was bound to be just as quiet as usual in the tiny shop, so Hinata didn’t feel too stressed about the prospect, he’d just really rather stay at the flat.

“Hi Hinata!”

He grinned at his boss as he entered, glad to see a friendly face first, “Hi Suga-senpai! Had many people today?”  
The silver-haired man frowned slightly, looking beyond Hinata and towards the doors.

“Not yet, Hinata. But it’s coming up to six, which means-”

Before he’d even finished speaking, the doors burst open and a flustered looking Sawamura-san fell in.

“Ah, uh, ahem. Hello Sugawara-san.”

“Hello Sawamura-san.” Suga gave his patented ‘how may I help you?’ smile and shooed Hinata off to go get changed into his uniform.

“Daichi!” The man cried out in response.

“What?”

Sawamura-san just laughed slightly awkwardly and walked off down the running aisle. Suga raised his eyebrow at Hinata and stifled a giggle before leaving the counter and going to talk to the awkward man.

Mondays and Wednesdays at six were always the same. Sawamura Daichi would flail into the shop, flustered and uncomfortable, and spend the rest of the night talking to Suga. The shop would close, and at that point he would buy an extraordinary amount of items, bow for way longer than strictly necessary, then fluster back out into the night. Suga thought he was sweet, everyone else thought he was an idiot.

Nishinoya was sat in the backroom, ripping open boxes of polo shirts and haphazardly shooting at them with the pricing gun.

“Uh, hi Noya!”

“Huh- oh, Shouyou! Hey! Is Mr Lovestruck in yet?”

“Yu-huh. Got here just after me.”

They grinned at each other, and Hinata got changed quickly before sitting and joining Noya on the floor.

“Shouldn’t you be out helping Suga on the floor?”

“Ah, yeah but it always gets really awkward when Sawamura-san is here…” He trailed off and frowned at the box, trying not to think about the uncomfortable feeling of having to watch someone try to ask his boss out on a date about forty times and never quite manage it.

“Yeah, true. Don’t worry Shouyou! I’ll say I needed help in here!”

“Thank’s Noya-senpai! You’re so cool!”

“Hell yeah I am!” Noya preened, and handed Hinata a pricing gun.  
  


* * *

  
Work always left him feeling drained, even when it hadn’t been too difficult. Lying back on the sofa and staring up at the beams on the ceiling, Hinata thought about the long day of University ahead of him and sighed. He didn’t want to go in tomorrow, the lectures were long and dreary recently, full of terms that he didn't understand and had to spend hours deciphering later on at the library. He thought about Yachi and wondered if she’d be mad, she hated it when he skipped lectures. His mother’s words came back to him: ‘some people just aren’t cut out for University’. He was going to go in.

He felt his eyelids getting heavier and knew that if he was going to go to bed, it was now or never. He couldn’t bring himself to move.  
  


* * *

  
Without opening his eyelids Hinata could tell it was late. The air was still and outside he could only hear the muffled shouts and speeding cars of the city late at night. Something had disturbed his sleep, Hinata made a mental note not to sleep on the sofa again; he’d probably made himself jump almost rolling off it.

Stretching out across the sofa, Hinata started to push himself up. There was a blanket covering him that he didn’t remember grabbing, but he put his forgetting down to his sleep addled brain.

“Shouldn’t you shower after work?”

Hinata froze.

“Yachi?” he whispered. But he knew it wasn’t her, the voice was too gruff, too deep. It was a man’s voice.

“Think again, dumbass.”

Hinata slowly opened his eyes, peering into the darkness. Stood at the end of the sofa was a tall, angry looking man in his early twenties. He had thick, black hair that hung over his eye, making him look even more imposing than he already was, and a deep scowl engraved into his face. He was wearing a pair of tight black jeans and a dark blue jumper.  
And for some reason that Hinata couldn't fathom, he seemed to be _glowing._

“Well,” the stranger asked, as Hinata lay staring at him, frozen in fear, “are you going to say anything?”

Shaking his head slowly, Hinata made his plan of escape. He threw his blanket at the man and went to run, hoping it’d confuse him long enough for Hinata to get out.

The blanket passed right through him and fell to the floor.

Hinata screamed.


	2. Kageyama Tobio can be a Real Asshole

Hinata stood at the opposite end of the sofa, holding up a pillow for protection and glaring at the man stood across from him.

“Wh-what are you?” he chattered out, not looking away from the taller man.

“A ghost.” Hinata could have sworn the thing rolled his eyes at him.

“Yeah I got that much!” Despite being terrified out of his wits Hinata was starting to lose patience at the jerk stood in front of him. “I mean why are you here?! Are you…” Hinata faltered, and the ghost raised an eyebrow at him, “Are you going to possess me?” he whispered.

The ghost snorted and moved to sit on the sofa, instead floating about ten centimetres above it. Hinata felt himself shift backwards automatically.  
“Why would I want to possess you?” The ghost turned and raked his eyes over Hinata, giving him a disgusted look before turning back to look out the windows. “What are you? Eleven? Twelve?”

Hinata clenched his teeth and held his anger down. You shouldn't fight with a ghost.  
“I'm twenty.” he spat out, ignoring the look of shock that passed over Kageyama's face, "Why are you here then?"

“This is my home.”

“No! It’s my flat!”

The ghost gave him a disinterested stare and went back to his gazing with a sigh.  
“Look, I get it. You signed the contract. You think you own the place. But it’s haunted so you’d better go.”

“No.”

“What?” The ghost turned to Hinata and his scowl was almost replaced by a look of incredulous disbelief, for a moment Hinata thought he could be quite handsome. For a ghost, anyway.

“I’m paying for this place and I’m staying.”

The ghost stood and stared down at Hinata. His hue was becoming a deeper shade of red by the second and if Hinata wasn’t so intent on standing his ground, he’d probably be cowering on the floor by now.  
Hinata stared back at the ghost, squaring his shoulders and begging himself not to whimper. The air seemed to grow thinner, he felt like he’d shrunk to half his size. The ghost drew closer and Hinata thought he was going to throw up.

“Ka-Katagawa-san?” He blurted out instead, the other frowned at him, losing some of his anger momentarily. “That’s what the landlord said your name was.”

His anger was back. Worst. Hinata suddenly realised he might be the second person to die in this flat.

“Kageyama.” He snarled, “Kageyama Tobio.”

“Kageyama,” Hinata all but whispered, “It’s time to move on. I own this place now and I-I won’t let go without a fight.”

They seemed to stare at each other for an eternity before Kageyama suddenly disappeared, leaving the words ‘neither will I’ ringing in Hinata's ears.  


* * *

  
Blearily blinking in the darkness of his bedroom, Hinata couldn’t quite figure out where that knocking was coming from. After his _little talk_ with Kageyama last night he’d found it nearly impossible to sleep, finally passing out on the brink of sunrise. Now soething was dragging him out of his last ditch attempt at sleep. 

He scowled at the wall and pulled himself out of bed to find the source. The floor was unusually cold but he couldn’t find the effort to pull on a pair of socks.

Someone was at the door he realised, moving sluggishly towards it. His feet felt heavier than usual, and he couldn’t understand why it was such a struggle to walk properly.

He pulled open the door and was met with a startlingly beautiful man in a suit and tie. Hinata blinked a few times and tilted his head to the side.  
“Hello?” his words came out scratchy and stiff.

“Uh, hello.” The man said, bowing slightly. “I’m your neighbour, Akaashi Keiji.”

“Hinata Shouyou! Is my name, I mean!” Akaashi really was stunning, Hinata thought.

“I was just, uh. Ah, this is incredibly awkward. I was just wondering what you were planning on doing about this?” He said, pointing down, Hinata’s gaze followed his finger, “You see, it’s starting to ruin my wallpaper.”

Hinata let out a low whine and stared at the floor. Staggering backwards slightly, he wondered how he hadn’t noticed the sloshing before. The entirety of Hinata’s flat was flooded, the hardwood floors swelling from the water. He turned back to apologise profusely to Akaashi, promising him he’d pay for any damages.

“Don’t worry about it.” Akaashi gave a small smile, “I earn more than enough to pay for it. I’d offer to help clean, but I’m already late. Apologies for the intrusion.” He bowed once more before turning and walking to the elevator.

Hinata shut the door and stared at the floor once more.

“Asshole.” He whispered, knowing exactly who was responsible.  


* * *

  
“After that, I spent an hour mopping, and two hours trying to dry all my things with a hairdryer!”

Yachi patted Hinata’s head, handing him the notes he’d missed from the lecture.  
“I’ll buy you a coffee.” She promised, “You’ve had a rough day.”

He nodded and pouted at her, feeling all the muscles in his body relax slightly.

“You should really tell your landlord if pipes are leaking like that.”

“Huh?”

“The pipes? That’s why it flooded, right?”

“Oh. Nah, it was the taps.”

“Shouyou! You left the taps running!”

“It wasn’t me!”

Yachi stilled suddenly, staring at Hinata, her confused expression slowly morphing into a smirk.

“Did you have someone round, Shouyou?” Her voice dripped with suggestion and Hinata found himself flushing heavily despite the complete lack of truth behind the statement.

“No! I was alone!”

“You did, didn’t you?” Her smirk grew wider and she wiggled her eyebrows, “Was it that hot blond from your work? You like ‘em angsty.” She giggled.

“What, Tsukishima? Ew! No, Yachi! Why put that image in my head.”

She just continued to laugh, bumping her shoulder into his as they walked towards the coffee shop.

Hinata spent most of the afternoon writing up notes and half-heartedly listening to Yachi talk about her beautiful mentor Shimizu-senpai. The notes seemed to be taking a lifetime to write, and he could tell Yachi knew he wasn’t listening properly but he couldn’t tear his mind away from how to get revenge on Kageyama.  
When the ghost had implied he’d haunt him, Hinata had figured he’d slam some cupboards, maybe say ‘boo’ every now and again. Hinata had never figured he’d be such an _asshole_. Who the hell floods someone's apartment out of spite?

He scowled down at his notes.

“Do you not understand it?”

“Huh?”

“Well you’re looking at it like it personally offended you, so I figured…”

“Oh, nah I’m sorry. Just thinking.”

He reached over his coffee to grab a highlighter and knocked salt across the table causing him to emit a loud growl and throw his pen down in frustration.

“Hey, it’s not all bad!” Yachi said, patting Hinata on the shoulder, “at least ghost won’t haunt this table tonight!”

Hinata’s head shot up. “What do you mean?”

“Uh,” Yachi moved back into her chair slightly, “it was a joke…”

“Yeah. Yeah. I don’t get it. Explain.”

“Well, um, because salt repels ghosts, you know?”

“Huh. Yeah.” Hinata shoved his notes into his bag, “Sorry, Yachi, I’ve got to go.”

“Oh! Uh, bye Shouyou!” She called out, but he was already halfway out the door.  
  


* * *

  
Hinata looked around at his apartment, nodding in satisfaction as he looked over the evening’s work. He’d put a line of salt in every doorway, blocking off the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. There was no way that jerk was getting in any of his rooms tonight.

“What the hell is this?”

Hinata nearly jumped out of his skin, spinning around to see the jerk ghost in question looking at him with pure resentment.

“Salt.” He scowled, crossing his arms and stepping quickly over the line and into his bedroom.  

“And what do you think this is going to do, dumbass.” Kageyama moved forwards, attempting to follow Hinata into the room, only to be shot backwards.

“Hah! Who’s the dumbass now!”

“Still you!” Kageyama squared up to the door, careful not to touch the line of salt, “you’re stuck in _my_ room just as much as I’m stuck in _my_ lounge.”

“They belong to _me_!” Hinata shouted, “Plus I can leave whenever I want!”

“Oh really?” Kageyama said softly. He raised a hand, and suddenly a sofa was flying towards the bedroom door, blocking Hinata's only exit.

Hinata jumped back, staring at the now-cushioned doorway. He glared at it for a few minutes before shrugging and climbing into bed.  
“At least he can’t get in here now.”  
  


* * *

  
Standing surrounded by smashed plates and glasses, Hinata couldn’t help but feel he’d slightly deserved this. The passé manner in which he’d watched Kageyama choke on burning sage was probably taking it a bit too far, but in his defence he didn’t think it’d actually _hurt_ the ghost (it was meant to get rid of him – but if Google isn’t a fucking liar).

He shrugged and pulled on his backpack, leaving the mess until after work. If he was late one more time he was sure Suga-san would have his head.

Hinata frowned, pausing in his step. He suddenly felt like he’d forgotten something. Standing in his corridor, raking his brain, he barely registered the guy perched on his neighbour’s doormat playing a DS until he was practically right under Hinata's feet.

“Uh, hi!” Hinata grinned, “Are you waiting for someone?”

The guy looked up from his game, staring at Hinata with large cat-like eyes before nodding slowly.

“I’m Shouyou! Hinata Shouyou!”

The guy mumbled something vague, and Hinata found himself leaning towards him in a desperate attempt to catch any syllable.

“Did you say Ken?” Ken, huh. His parents must be into foreign names, Hinata figured. 

“Kenma. Kozume Kenma.” 

“Oh!” Hinata crouched down next to Kenma, “Hi Kenma! What’re you playing?”

“Haikyuu!! Connect.” Kenma paused his game, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at Hinata from under his hair.

“I love that game!” Hinata leaned back on his heels and grinned massively, “Have you gotten to the part where they meet Aone yet? I love that guy, he’s so big and like BAM and HUH, you know?”

Kenma nodded and smiled slightly, turning his screen to show Hinata the game.

“Woah, you’re so far along! You must be really good at this!”

Kenma blushed slightly and shrugged, “I just get really into it, I guess?”

“Nah, don’t knock it!” Hinata jumped up to his feet, stretching out his aching calves, “You’ve got talent, Kenma!”

“You could, um, play with me some time?” Kenma mumbled, his blush deepening slightly.

Tilting his head to one side, Hinata paused for a while wondering if he’d have time between work, lessons, and showing that bastard Kageyama a lesson.  
“Yeah!” he exclaimed, he could make time.

“Kenma?” Hinata jumped, looking behind him to see a huge guy with terrible bed head sloping their way, “What are you doing? Did you forget your key again?”

Kenma nodded, standing from the mat and moving out of the way.

“Ah, what am I gonna do with you?” Bedhead sighed.

Kenma merely shrugged, turning back to Hinata and giving a small smile.

“Bye, Shouyou. See you soon.”

“Bye Kenma!”

Hinata wandered over to the lift, as he stepped in his mind gave him a thoughtful reminder: ‘you have a test in two days.’  
“Oh, fuck!” The doors closed.  
  


* * *

  
He was late to work. He knew immediately from Suga’s disappointed glare and Tsukishima’s victorious smirk. Shooting a hateful glare Tsukishima’s way, to which the other simply raised an eyebrow and went back to talking to the overly excited freckled man beside him, Hinata made his way towards Suga with a mouthful of apologies.

“I don’t want to hear it.” Suga said, shaking his head slightly, “My office. Now.”

Nodding, Hinata prepared himself for the fallout, thinking of all the other places he could get a job. There was that shop, Shimida Mart, where Tsukishima’s freckly friend worked. He could get him a job, he was nice when he wasn’t hanging out with Captain Snark.

Sugawara leant against his desk, shutting his eyes and rubbing his forehead. Hinata gulped and slowed his breathing in an attempt to control his pulse. He’d never seen Suga look like this before, not angry or frustrated, but disappointed. His stomach dropped suddenly and he didn’t know if he’d ever felt worst.

“Hinata,” He nodded in response, steeling himself for the blow, “What’s going on?”

Hinata looked at the older man, unsure how to respond. Suga's eyes seemed to burn right through him and Hinata suddenly felt like Suga could read all of his deepest secrets with a single look.

“I’ve never known you to be late at all, but this week alone you've missed an hour of work. Considering you’re on a sixteen hour contract that's…” He trailed off and shook his head, “Is something bothering you at home?”

All of a sudden Hinata wanted to confess everything. He wanted to blurt out everything about Kageyama, about the flood, the sleepless nights; he wanted Sugawara to know each and every worry he had. His mouth opened, and he looked at his boss’ gentle expression and shook his head.  
“No, Sugawara-san. Everything is fine at home.”

Suga sighed and nodded his head. “I like you Hinata, and the customers like you, so it’d be a shame to lose you. If this keeps up, however…” He gave Hinata a look, and Hinata had never been more aware of just how thin the ice he was on was, “Right now you have two options, either work overtime tonight, or I’ll dock your pay for the time you've missed.”

“Thank you, Sugawara-san. I’m- I'm really sorry about this. I’ll work overtime!”

“Don’t worry, Hinata. I’m glad you understand.”  He moved forwards and clapped Hinata on the shoulder, giving a reassuring smile that did nothing to ease the feeling of dread creeping into Hinata’s stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this fic should update every Tuesday and Friday from now on (but don't quote me on that because I am the most changeable person to exist ever)
> 
> I feel like this fic is becoming all dialogue and no description - am I becoming Raymond Carver? Tune in next week when we ask my empty whisky bottles and find out


	3. Hinata Shouyou May Never Understand

“Should we plan your leaving party now, Short Stock?” Tsukishima smirked, his friend snickering as he left for work.  
“Be quiet, Tsukishima,” came the long suffering tones of Sugawara, “Hinata isn’t leaving. Get back to work.”  
Tsukishima raised his eyebrow and turned back to the shelf, half heartedly dragging a cloth across it as Hinata smirked and sauntered past, flinching slightly when the other scowled at him. He slipped behind the till and keyed himself in, leaning across the counter on his elbows. He could see Tsukishima smirking at him out of the corner of his eye but couldn’t find the energy to argue with the other after everything.  
Tsukishima seemed to be radiating snide energy, Hinata scowled, turning the other way and prepared himself for whatever the string bean had to throw at him.  
  
He’d been checking stock lists for over an hour when he looked up to see Tsukishima’s conceited sneer.

“What?” Hinata spat out, “You wanna fight?”

Tsukishima snorted and raised an eyebrow.

“Hey hey hey!”

Hinata leaned around Tsukishima, a huge grin splitting his face. Stood in the entrance to the shop was a tall, well built man with thick white and black hair, stuck up in a way that gave him the distinct impression of a horned owl.  
“Bokuto-san!”

Tsukishima scowled, shoving his hands in his pockets and making his way into the back room.  
“Hey! Where are you going, Glasses-kun?”  
Tsukishima turned, giving Bokuto a withering look, “Unfortunately I’m allergic to idiocy.” With that he walked through the door, slamming it resolutely behind him.

“Didn’t he use that one last week?”

“I don’t know, they all just blur into one for me.”

Bokuto nodded as though Hinata had just spouted some great wisdom and sauntered over to the till.

“What’re you looking for today Bokuto-san?”

“New shoes,” Bokuto frowned and flopped against the counter top, “I burned through another pair.”

Hinata nodded in sympathy, Bokuto seemed to need a new pair of volleyball shoes every four months. Hinata didn’t know how often or how hard Bokuto trained, but he was certain it was a hell of a lot more than his old high school team.

“Okay, Bokuto-san. I’ll get you-”

“Ah, um. Hinata-kun?”  
Hinata glanced up as Bokuto’s head shot around, staring at the man stood in the doorway.

“Akaashi-san!” Hinata pushed his way around Bokuto, the Volleyball player having completely stilled when Akaashi entered. “What’re you doing here?”

“This was delivered to my apartment by accident.” Akaashi produced a small parcel with Hinata’s name and address scrawled across it. “I remembered you worked here so thought I’d kill two birds with one stone. I needed a new running shirt.”  
Akaashi smiled, and Hinata heard a soft gasp from behind him. He glanced back at Bokuto, but the other man was still staring at Akaashi.  
  
Hinata took the parcel from Akaashi and called Tsukishima in, asking him to help Akaashi with whatever he needed.

He tugged on Bokuto’s shirt, dragging him around to the shoe section, finally pulling the larger man out of his reverie.

“Hey, hey, Hinata?”

Hinata hummed, pulling an array of shoes out from the shelves.

“Who was that?”

Turning around, Hinata saw Bokuto craning his neck around the shelves.  
“My neighbour,” Hinata grinned at Bokuto, dropping the shoes in front of him to choose, “he’s real nice! I nearly flooded his flat once but he still smiles and says hi every time we pass each other!”

Bokuto nodded absentmindedly, smoothing his hair spikes up. Hinata heard the distant jangle of the door and watched as Bokuto visibly loosened.  
“What time do you get off work, Hinata?”

“In about half an hour.”

“It’s really late,” Bokuto frowned down at Hinata, but his eyes kept flickering back to the doorway, “You shouldn’t walk home alone – I’ll take you!”

“Yeah!” Hinata grinned, “You can tell me more about your matches!”

Bokuto grinned, picking up a pair of white trainers with black and gold soles.

* * *

Hinata shook his hands out as he stood in the middle of his living room. Walking back with Bokuto had been a good distraction, the other’s excitable mood bringing Hinata’s own back up. It’d been slightly awkward when Bokuto had refused to come inside, instead lingering around the hallway the entire time, but Hinata put that down to politeness - he couldn't think of any other reason Bokuto would be so interested in the hallway.

Now, Hinata stood contemplating his decision. He needed this half-war to end. He took a deep breath, clenching his fists, and steeled himself.

“I know you’re there, Ka-ka-Kageyama!”

“Wow, great deduction, Shitlock. I’m literally always here.”

The ghost appeared suddenly, leaning against the sofa with his arms crossed. He scowled at Hinata, making the other feel uncomfortable for his very act of being there – which was probably his intention if Hinata really thought about it.

“We need to talk.”

Kageyama’s scowl, if possible, deepened.

“You need to move on.” Hinata stared into Kageyama’s ethereal blue eyes, “There’s nothing keeping you here.”

Kageyama looked furious, but Hinata forced himself to keep speaking – knowing that if the words didn’t come out now, they never would.

“What’s even keeping you here? Just pass on – just go! This isn’t your home anymore. You should just ge-”

He only stopped when a dish smashed next to his head, quickly dodging as another came flying towards him.

“What the hell is your de-” When his arm was clipped by a passing glass, Hinata thought it best to run, bolting from the apartment as quickly as his feet would allow.

* * *

Hinata sat cross legged on the sofa, various sport science text books piled up around him. Last night he’d decided that the only thing to do was to work around Kageyama, attempting to ignore the haunting and focus on his work. Making the conscious decision to stay away from the library, as all he does there is research exorcisms – much to Yachi’s chagrin – Hinata had created himself a study nest in a last ditch attempt to revise for next week’s test.

Which is why when his phone buzzed the first time, he resolved to ignore it.

The second time, he couldn’t help his eyes flicker to the screen where Inouka’s name was glowing obnoxiously at him.

The third time he snatched it up, desperate to know what could possibly be _so important_.

 **From** : Inouka!!! ۹(ÒہÓ)۶  
**Subject** : that quick!  
yo shou! u watching the jpn v can game?? ushijimi is on FIRE

 **From** : Inouka!!! ۹(ÒہÓ)۶  
**Subject** : balls fast as lightning man  
they speedin’  
put the game on!!!!!

 **From** : Inouka!!! ۹(ÒہÓ)۶  
**Subject** : RESPOND  
I NEED SOEONE TO TLK 2 ABT THIS !!!!!!!!!!!

Hinata’s leg shook, a sudden indecisiveness washing over him. His textbooks seemed to be glaring up at him, but all he could think about was how powerful Japan’s men’s team was this year. His thumb scrolled up and down his phone screen haphazardly and he thought about how much his classmates would be talking about this game tomorrow.

Ten minutes later when he text Inouka about Ushijima’s insane inner spike, he could only bring himself to feel slightly guilty.

The rally had been going on for almost a whole two minutes now, neither side’s receivers giving in. It was Japan’s set point and Canada weren’t letting them take it that easily. Hinata was practically on the edge of his seat, his phone buzzing almost continually. He saw the moment Japan had some leeway, Ushijima’s signature left handed spike slamming the ball mere centimetres away from Canada’s libero’s hand. The crowd went wild, Hinata was screaming, but when a voice behind him started cheering too he shrieked and fell from the sofa.

“What the hell are you doing, dumbass?!” Kageyama peered over the sofa at him, a sneer decorating his face.

“Well you could have at least announced yourself?”

“Why should I have to announce myself in my own home?”

Hinata clambered back onto the sofa, choosing to ignore Kageyama’s words – the last thing he wanted was a shattered TV.

Kageyama had moved around the sofa, standing cross armed besides Hinata and making the redhead hyper aware of his looming presence. Hinata rolled his shoulders back and stared at the television – watching Canada score the first point of the second set, a service ace.

They were five points into the set when Hinata finally attempted to speak, keeping his gaze dead set forwards.  
“So, uh, you like volleyball?”  
There was a vague grunt from besides him and Hinata nodded gently.  
“Did you ever play when you were, um, when you were-”

“When I was _what_?”

“When you were, uh,” Hinata glanced to the side, seeing Kageyama scowling down at him with a raised eyebrow, “When you were a younger man.”

Kageyama rolled his eyes and turned back to the television.  
“Yeah.” He muttered, “I was a setter.”

“That’s so cool! I used to play in high school, you know?” Hinata beamed with pride, “I was a middle blocker.”

There was a long pause, Hinata’s smile fading from his face as Kageyama simply stared at him.

“W-what?”

Kageyama shrugged, “You’re very short.”

Hinata’s mouth fell open at the blunt way Kageyama spoke. There had been no malicious intent in his words, just pure fact. That’s what made it even worst.  
“I can jump!” He said indignantly.

Kageyama shrugged and nodded, turning back to the television.

By midway through the third set, Hinata was reclined on the sofa – watching the television through Kageyama’s semi-transparent torso. The other was still stood in the same position he’d taken up almost an hour ago, arms crossed, floating ever so slightly above the ground.

“Doesn’t that get uncomfortable?” Hinata said, taking advantage of the time out to attempt a conversation.

“What?” Kageyama spun, frowning down at Hinata. Though this time the expression was made more out of confusion than anger. Hinata didn’t think too much on how easy he found it to read the ghost.

“Standing like that. There’s a chair, like, right there? Why don’t you sit your ass down?”

Kageyama just stared at him, looking at Hinata as if he was the biggest idiot to ever grace the earth. Not like he could talk, Hinata thought, the guy couldn’t even pass over.

“I’m a ghost.” Kageyama said, turning back to the television and ending the conversation.

“And here I thought it was so you didn’t shift that stick any further up your ass.” Hinata muttered.

“Hah?!”

“Nothing!”

“That’s what I thought.”

As the final part of the game played out, Hinata decided not to try for conversation again. The best thing to do would be to avoid the other, like a bad flatmate that drinks all of your milk.  
Except rather than drinking all your milk, this guy floods your apartment, smashes all your dishes, and attempts to terrify you into an early grave.

“He’s gotten stronger.”

Hinata jumped, looking up at the stoic ghost. He wasn't sure the other had ever initiated conversation before. The commentators were showing a replay of one of Ushijima’s more impressive spikes, Kageyama watched, seemingly entralled, a carefully blank expression on his face.

Humming in response, Hinata sat up slightly, looking around Kageyama to see the screen fully.  
“I think Bokuto-san could put up a good fight against him though.”

Kageyama scowled, tutting at Hinata.  
“There’s no way Fukurodani could beat Shiratorizawa.”

Shaking his head, Hinata turned and sat up fully. “Bokuto-san has been training really hard though, he’s the strongest guy I know. They could definitely win the league this year.”

“He’s no Ushijima Wakatoshi.”

The crowd broke out in rapturous applause, and Hinata broke his gaze away from Kageyama. Ushijima was stood in the middle of the court, Japan victorious. Interviewers were approaching Ushijima, the team falling about themselves in joy – but Hinata and Kageyama were completely silent. The air was dense and Hinata felt choked by the discomfort.

_“There are no two ways about it. We are going to be the league champions. Everyone on this team is one hundred percent dedicated to me as the ace – we are unbreakable. No more weak li-”_

The TV cut out, static and a shot of Ushijima blurring up the screen.  
“What the fuck wa- Kageyama? Kageyama?”

The spirit had disappeared, leaving Hinata sat alone with only the sound of the static and Ushijima’s steely gaze to keep him company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg I'm so sorry this is so late - I had a really bad case of the flu smh 
> 
> in other news I started a specifically Haikyuu tumblr - so if anyone wants to send me any requests hmu at [nishinoya-me](http://nishinoya-me.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> The au in which Kageyama haunts Hinata's flat and Hinata is Not Happy About It. Aka a way for me to get rid of my sadness through angst  
> I'll think up a better title I promise  
> hit me up on Tumblr [Comemebeferre](http://comemebeferre.tumblr.com)


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